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Sunday, November 20, 2011

9-hour policy should never have existed, says Teachers’ Union

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) lauded the government’s decision to do away with the nine-hour workday for school teachers, saying it was unnecessary and should not have been implemented in the first place. Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced yesterday that the project had been discontinued.

The deputy prime minister said the decision was made in order to allow the government to evaluate a study conducted on the project which first began with 19 schools in Malacca. “There are a lot of reasons why the nine hour policy is not practical. Making it compulsory for a teacher to be in school for that long is not practical,” NUTP president Hashim Adnan told The Malaysian Insider today.

He urged the Education Ministry to consult workers’ unions in the future before deciding on policies affecting teaching as it could affect the government’s image if there was a sudden change of plans.
“We hope the Education Ministry will discuss matters with us first if they want to implement things like this in the future to avoid the government’s image being affected if policies like this are cancelled before they are actually implemented,” Adnan said. He added the latest announcement showed a weakness in the Education Ministry’s decision making process.

Adnan also said teachers actually worked more than nine hours a day on average if working on public holidays and during formal examinations were taken into account. “In most schools, there are not enough facilities provided for all teachers to be in school for nine hours,” Adnan added. The new policy would have been implemented January 2012 onwards in four states — Melaka, Sarawak, Pahang and Johor — and would have affected 5,000 teachers from primary and secondary institutions. The policy required morning school teachers to be in school from 7.30am until 4.30pm whereas afternoon school teachers were required to be on duty at 9.30am to 6.30pm.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 – The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) today urged Putrajaya to revoke the nine hours a day teaching policy for school teachers, as a study has shown it was not beneficial. NUTP also said that the new policy was not suitable at the moment as many schools lack comfortable facilities for teachers.

The new policy will be implemented January 2012 onwards in four states – Melaka, Sarawak, Pahang and Johor – and will affect about 5,000 teachers from primary and secondary institutions. NUTP president Hashim Adnan the new policy would not bring positive results if school facilities and workload of the teachers were considered. “Moreover, teachers are not compelled to work nine hours a day like other services. As the minister said (today), teachers have to have enough rest and they actually work more than nine hours,” he told The Malaysian Insider today. Hashim added that the policy was not popular among teachers, therefore “why should the government go ahead with it?”

He explained that the education ministry should conduct a study before implementing the policy. Under this new policy, morning school teachers are required to be in school from 7.30am until 4.30pm whereas afternoon school teachers are required to be on duty at 9.30am to 6.30pm. Yesterday, deputy education minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong had urged teachers not to ‘panic’ with the new policy. However, Hashim said it was best to forgo the new policy.

“These early signs show that the policy is not going to work, so just revoke it. It’s a waste of time to conduct the study,” he said, adding he hoped the public service department will look into this case especially the facilities at work. “If we were to sit at work for nine hours, we need to have comfortable facilities. Staff in other agencies have tables, a comfortable environment, but not in schools.”

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Commonly, concave mirror can be used as a reflector and enlargement mirror.

A) As a enlargement mirror

When the object is placed less than the focal length of a concave mirror, a larger, upright and virtual image is formed.

Dental Mirror

Make-up Mirror

Shaving Mirror

B) As a reflector

When the object is placed at the focal point of a concave mirror, the reflected light rays are parallel and able to produce a strong beam of light.

Car Headlight

Concave reflectors are used in car headlights. The bulb of the head light is placed at the focal point of the reflector. The reflected light emerges in a parallel beam and gives more concentrated visibility to the driver at night.

Parabolic Dish

Concave mirrors are used in solar powered gadgets. The parallel rays of the sun are reflected to focus at the focal point F. The solar energy concentrated at F is then used or converted (for example into electrical energy by a solar cell) by the gadget

Look at the mirror! A shinny and smooth surfaced mirror act as a good reflector

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

CONSULTATIVE council will be set up in the state to “discuss, debate and research” policies proposed by the Education Ministry. Representatives from some 20 primary and secondary schools here have agreed to form a council soon in the interest of the future generation.

Parent S. Krishnan, 51, who was representing SK St Xavier Air Itam, urged all schools in the state to be part of the council. “The council will be formalised soon and we urge all education stakeholders, especially the schools and Parent-Teacher Associations (PIBG), to join us. “I hope similar councils can be established in every state,” he said at the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) press conference here on Saturday.

The father of six, who is also member of the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) Penang chapter, said education should not be politicised. He said only educationists should be put in charge of issues related to education. PAGE Penang chapter coordinator Rowena Yam said the details of the council would be worked out before it is formally registered. “The council will meet from time to time to give input on matters pertaining to education,” she said.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

PUTRAJAYA (Nov 4): The Cabinet has agreed to allow all students in the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) cohort to continue learning the subjects in English until Form Five.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday this meant that primary school pupils in the PPSMI cohort could opt whether to continue learning Science and Mathematics in English or Bahasa Malaysia, or in both languages when they enter Form One beginning next year.

"Thus, the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in primary schools will only be implemented fully in Bahasa Malaysia in 2016 while in secondary schools it will be implemented in 2021. "With the decision, the abolition of the PPSMI is upheld. The government does not intend to reimplement the PPSMI as demanded by certain groups," he said at a media conference.

He said that the government hoped the decision to allow the PPSMI cohort to continue learning in the English Language up to Form Five could please the
parents. - Bernama

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Y-GAIN (VOLTS/CM) control determines the height of the trace. Choose a setting so the trace occupies at least half the screen height, but does not disappear off the screen.

The TIMEBASE (TIME/CM) control determines the rate at which the dot sweeps across the screen. Choose a setting so the trace shows at least one cycle of the signal across the screen.

Amplitude is the maximum voltage reached by the signal.
It is measured in volts, V.

Peak voltage is another name for amplitude.

Peak-peak voltage is twice the peak voltage (amplitude). When reading an oscilloscope trace it is usual to measure peak-peak voltage.

Time period is the time taken for the signal to complete one cycle.
It is measured in seconds (s), but time periods tend to be short so milliseconds (ms) and microseconds (µs) are often used. 1ms = 0.001s and 1µs = 0.000001s.

Frequency is the number of cycles per second.
It is measured in hertz (Hz), but frequencies tend to be high so kilohertz (kHz) and megahertz (MHz) are often used. 1kHz = 1000Hz and 1MHz = 1000000Hz.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements with a certain fixed composition in which metal is the major component.

The making of alloy is:

To increase the strength and hardness of a pure metal.

To prevent corrosion.

To improve the appearance of a pure metal.

Pure Metal

·Pure metal is made up of one type of atoms that are in same size. Therefore, when a force is applied, the layers of atoms can slide over one another. Thus, metals are ductile or can be stretched.

·There are some empty spaces in between the pure metal atoms. When a metal is knocked or pressed, groups of atoms may slide and then settle into new positions. Thus, metals are malleable or can be shaped.

Alloy

·Some of the spaces between the metal atoms are filled up by the foreign atoms which may be bigger or smaller than the original metal atoms.

·The presence of foreign atoms disrupts the orderly arrangement or the pure metal.

·The layers of metal atoms are prevented from sliding over one another easily. This makes alloys stronger and harder than pure metals.

In a voltaic cell, two different metals are used to create a potential difference. A higher metal in the electrochemical series ...

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The Power of Teachers

"Any nation is as great, as good, as its citizens make it........It is teachers more than any other single group of people who determine attitudes, and who shape the ideas and aspirations of the nation." Julius Nyerere, 1966